By Azian Aziz
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — Three disabled entrepreneurs were presented with the Ikon Usahawan OKU Selangor award, in the final round of the Liga Usahawan OKU Selangor, earlier today.
The fourth edition of the competition, organised by Selangor Youth Community (SAY) at Sunway Hotel, saw the Raja Muda of Selangor Tengku Amir Shah present the winners with their awards.
His Highness also awarded another disabled entrepeneur with the prize of Usahawan Harapan OKU Selangor.
Tengku Amir, who was earlier part of the jury for the final round, listened to the business presentations of nine disabled entrepreneurs who qualified, alongside four other judges for a three-hour period.
Together with state executive councillor for entrepreneurial development Rodziah Ismail, His Highness carried out the judging process to select the entrepreneurs, before presenting the awards to the winners, and certificates of participation to all participants.
Wood furniture entrepreneur Mohd Noor Affendi Abdul Muin, who is visually disabled in one eye, was the first-place winner, followed by physically-disabled nasi lemak and frozen food entrepreneur Amir Mohsin Mohd Bahrudin in second place, and physically-disabled grocery store entrepreneur Irwan Fairuzi Johari in third.
The trio brought home trophies and recognition certificates from SAY, and the Selangor OKU Entrepreneur Programme business grant (SAY Lead) worth RM3,000. They will advance to the next stage, which is the one-year mentoring programme SAY Lead Plus.
The programme will enable the winners to expand their businesses via new market access, business digitisation, and export markets.
The other judges on the panel included the Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Development Ministry’s Ecosystem Development Division secretary Salmah Sathiman, Bank Islam’s SME advisor Datuk Hafsah Hashim, Warga Hijrah Selangor Berhad general manager Mohammad Syukri Ismail, and the National Institute of Entrepreneurship’s Center of Excellence for Social Enterprises’ manager Muhammad Hafizul Khair Mohd Yusof.
Liga Usahawan OKU Selangor is an initiative by SAY, which is a non-governmental organisation founded by Tengku Amir. The fourth edition featured deaf and dumb entrepreneurs who participated with assistance from a sign interpreter.
The programme was sponsored by the Standing Committee on Housing, Urban Wellbeing and Entrepreneur Development, with cooperation from the Selangor Social Welfare Department and the Selangor Public Library Corporation.
